When Words Go Too Far
by jazzybizzle
Summary: "Hey," he repeated, coaxing her chin up so their eyes could meet, his hands cupping her face. He spotted a bruise on her cheek, gently brushing his thumb across the pale, grey skin. "What happened to you?" Her wide, almond shaped eyes began to water. She shook her head, "I'm done trying to convince her..."/ Ty Lee visits Azula's cell and things get personal. Ty Luko


**I'm baaaaaaaaaack :D**

* * *

Azula was sitting upright, strapped tightly to her chair. After the last...incident she had with a visitor, let's just say she was under strict imprisonment, if not worse than before. The insane teen gave out an eerie cackle every now and then, and the guards never questioned her otherwise.

_"Are you sure?"_ The former princess heard a guard from outside the locked door.

"_Positive_," a female voice remarked.

The door unlocked, and a guard provided light in the room. A Kyoshi Warrior stepped inside, and she was provided with a chair-at a safe distance-across from Azula. The Warrior was clad in her uniform, and for once, she looked calm in the face.

But Azula knew her too well.

The girl briefly met Azula's gaze as she reached up to her ponytail holder, taking it out then sliding it on her wrist. After running her fingers through her braid, she shook her hair out around herself, then ran her fingers through her chocolate locks once more.

"Your makeup is ugly."

Ty Lee paused her movements, "I'm gonna pretend like I didn't hear that," and her hands dropped to her lap.

Azula arched an eyebrow. "Oh? Little Miss Ty Lee is suddenly a tough cookie? I'm shocked."

The acrobat ignored that. "How are you?"

"You don't care. You just came here to pity me."

"You don't know...a _thing_." Ty Lee's voice almost...darkened. "I'm not the girl you can push around and manipulate anymore."

Azula smirked. "Is this the part where I'm supposed to be intimidated?"

"I'm not like you."

"Ooh burn."

Ty Lee sighed. She had expected her old best friend to act this way. In fact, this wasn't her first time visiting. Each time she's gotten better at not crying and having Azula twist her emotions around and use them against the bubbly girl.

It was pretty obvious Azula wasn't going to answer the question at hand, so Ty Lee moved on. "So this is what you're gonna do for the rest of your life? Rot here in this smelly cell? You could've just surrendered at the get-go. You could've, oh, I don't know...settle down? Get a boyfriend maybe to get your mind off of things?"

Azula snorted, "Seriously? No matter how much you claim to have changed, you're still living in your fairy tale world. How pathetic."

"Don't knock it 'til ya try it."

"I don't need a boyfriend."

"Then get a girlfriend."

Azula made a face and Ty Lee just shrugged as if it was that simple. "No peasant is worthy of me."

"What _worth_?" Ty Lee demanded. "You're here,_ not_ at the palace! You're _not_ a princess anymore! You drive yourself insane and you've never had any _real_ friends! People just don't like you!" She took a deep breath to calm herself.

"Oh, are you trying to break me? Make me cry?"

"Katara and Zuko sure made you cry when they beat you at your own game." The other girl's eyes widened. "Ooh burn."

Azula's nostrils flared. "You will _not_ speak of those pieces of _filth!_" She spat.

Ty Lee stayed impassive. "You don't tell me what to do anymore."

Azula's face cleared of anger, instead replaced by mischievousness. "And you think you're any better? You're just as bad as I am. You'll never admit it, but you love it. You loved being in my very presence; you loved the _thrill_ of being evil. No one cared about you when you were little and I only became your friend because I felt sorry for you. Mai was the only one who truly liked being your friend. I just found you annoying."

Ty Lee's face fell.

Bingo.

"I used you and Mai, of course. It was so easy to trick you. That night when I came to your little circus performance? Remember the flames? And all of those caged animals let loose?" Azula's smirk widened. "Guess who's idea that was."

Ty Lee's eyes narrowed, "...You didn't."

"The hell I did. And I knew Mai would join me too, because she was always a bored, plain little whore who threw knives at people for fun. And as a bonus: she'd do anything to see my brother. This is why love is so childish. Love doesn't solve problems."

"Mai is _not_ a whore!" Ty Lee defended her best friend.

"You know you agree. Name one time when Mai _wasn't_ wrapped around Zuko." Azula scoffed, "That little slut...Why do you think she puts on a little show for you when you come around? She saw you too, you in your little hiding spots as you watched them in envy. Mai wasn't the only one who was _lusting_ after Zuzu." Ty Lee started lightly blushing. "She saw through your game. She knew you loved Zuko as much as she did and took advantage of it. Her entire relationship with Zuko was all to show you what you could never have."

Throughout Azula's little speech, Ty Lee fought back tears. "That's not true..." Her voice was thick with emotion.

Azula went on menacingly as if Ty Lee hadn't spoken, "She ended her relationship because of your cute involvement with the Kyoshi Wenches. Weren't you the one who said you hated being a part of a 'matched set'?"

A tear fell down the acrobat's cheek. "That's different..."

"You stopped being around to see her wrapped around Zuko like the snake she is, and she called it off because of lack of attention from Zuko _and_ you. And you're telling me she's not the attention whore? Okay. Let's talk about you then." She cackled. "Now that poor Zuzu is single and alone, you took your chance." Ty Lee's heart leaped. "Sorry, baby, but you're juuuuust a rebound," Azula singsonged dryly as she closed her eyes, tilting her head back. Azula saw Ty Lee tense as she opened an eye and smiled even more.

There was a moment of silence before blue flames of fire sparked out of Azula's mouth and across the room to the other girl.

Ty Lee's scream caused the guards to burst in the room, ready to take action. But no action was needed.

Ty Lee had jumped, feet landing on the wall behind her; pushing herself off the wall, she soared across the room like a bird, hand clamping down on Azula's shoulder as she landed and balanced herself. Azula, now almost out of her seat, struggled, and would've thrown her off if Ty Lee hadn't jabbed her in the neck, causing her head to roll uncontrollably. Legs wrapping around Azula's neck, Ty Lee flipped them over; Azula landed hard on her back, gasping sharply for air as Ty Lee kept her in a choke hold with her arms _and_ legs.

As soon as Ty Lee released her vice grip, she did a backflip as the guards got ahold of Azula, catching her breath and placing her hand over her heart.

"Our apologies, Miss Ty Lee," one of the guards said.

"It's alright," Ty Lee panted, her eyes meeting a set of angry, yet manipulating golden eyes burning into her grey orbs. As she watched her former friend being dragged away, she realized that it'll never be alright. Maybe there was no hope in talking some sense into Azula...

* * *

_Knock knock knock_

Zuko opened his eyes; eyebrows scrunching down, he pushed himself up on his elbows, staring at the door, which now seemed so far away from where he lay. It was so late in the night...who'd be-?

A dim bell rang in his head.

_Knock knock knock_

The knocking was quiet; feeble. Sending a ball of fire to the candle on his bedside table to provide a little light, he tiredly made his way over to the door, wiping his face and running his fingers through his hair before opening the door.

Standing in the threshold was Ty Lee, hair down and makeup smudged from crying, but she still wore her Kyoshi uniform.

"Hi..." She looked up at him from underneath her eyelashes.

"Hey..." Zuko's eyes searched over her. "What happened?" He stepped aside to let her in, and closed the door behind her.

"Can I use your sink?" She asked him, avoiding his question. He sighed and nodded, and she walked away. He watched her dip her hands in the water and splashed her face to wash the makeup off her face. When she still didn't answer, he grew concerned. Just as she was about to pass him, dipping her head, he caught her around the waist with one arm, pulling her back to him.

"Hey," he repeated, coaxing her chin up so their eyes could meet, his hands cupping her face. He spotted a bruise on her cheek, gently brushing his thumb across the pale, grey skin. "What happened to you?"

Her wide, almond shaped eyes began to water. She shook her head, "I'm done trying to convince her..." She began to sob a little, tear after tear dropping from her eyelids.

Zuko sighed heavily, "You visited Azula again? Ty _Lee_, I told you that she'd-"

Ty Lee nodded rapidly, "I know, I know! I just-I, I-I-!" She choked back more sobs.

"She manipulated you again, didn't she?"

Ty Lee nodded again, timidly, hanging her head, and he pulled her close for an embrace. She wrapped her arms around his torso, breaking down completely.

When her sobs died down to a minimum, he pulled back and said, "C'mon. You can sleep with me tonight. You must be tired." He climbed back into the bed, pausing in a sitting position to wait for her.

With no hesitation, realizing how exhausted she was, she began undressing as she headed towards his king-sized bed. Clothed in her white wrappings when she reached the bed, she sluggishly climbed up the footboard, destined to reach his open arms. Once there, she sighed as he brought them down in a laying position; her hand and cheek rested on his bare chest and his hand absentmindedly stroked her hair, his free arm wrapped around her.

She told him what happened, what had been said; her eyes closed, squeezing him tighter as she repeated what Azula had said about Mai. Hearing the hurt and slight betrayal in her voice, he reached over and laced their fingers together.

"Azula was lying..." Zuko said. "Mai would never..."

Ty Lee nodded. "I know. It's just...the _way_ she said it. I almost scared myself because...I almost started believing her."

"Don't. Mai and I loved each other, and I had no idea that you liked me. Mai had mentioned it once, and she looked like she felt bad. I kinda did too, but at the time there were other things to worry about..." He looked down at her. "She broke up with me because I was keeping secrets from her. And since then, she's still been my friend. We all grew up together. I don't think life would be the same without either of you."

Ty Lee gripped his hand tighter. "Same here. Mai's my best friend-and the number one best friend rule is that you can't date your best friend's ex boyfriend. That's, like, the rules of _feminism_!"

"Well that's a rule you're breaking."

She giggled some. "We're just lucky that Mai loves me and supports us as a couple. Otherwise, I just couldn't do it..."

"You mean you'd never be with me if it weren't for Mai?"

"Yes. If anything, I could never disrespect and hurt her like that. I just couldn't..." She started to smile, "If I hadn't set her up then we would definitely be doomed."

"I still can't believe you set her up with _Haru_. Out of _all_ people."

Ty Lee shrugged, smiling big now. "The heart wants what the heart wants, Zuzu. Sometimes, it just...happens."

"Kinda like us."

She turned her head, leaning back to look at him. "Yeah..." She ran her fingers through his hair. "Kinda."

Zuko smiled, pulling her closer as she sat up some and leaned in to lock their lips together.

* * *

**I probably should make a Ty Luko multi-chappie :) As for the hinted HaruxMai, I'm always interested in trying new ships. Testing the waters and junk xP**

**Writing prompts, anyone? :) I'll take any Ty Luko suggestions! (Kataang and Tokka are also optional).**

**So...yeah, Ty Luko is amazing :D I hoped Azula was in character! It's been a while since I've written her.**


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